WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



death, there was the possibility of our being detained 

 to give evidence before the Court. 



We finished our baths, and were on the point 

 of beginning our evening meal, when a boy rushed 

 into the tent and gave us the welcome intelligence 

 that the " dead man " was moving. We hurried to 

 investigate matters for ourselves, and found that the 

 victim was rapidly regaining consciousness. This 

 welcome change in affairs made dinner a more enjoyable 

 meal than we had expected. There was now no longer 

 any necessity to worry the authorities over the affair ; 

 but, at the same time, we could not possibly pass over 

 the gross breach of discipHne. When you are travelling 

 with a train of some forty or fifty natives you are 

 bound to keep a very tight hand over them, otherwise 

 disaster becomes almost inevitable. 



As soon as the injured man was well enough to 

 give evidence — he had received no really serious 

 damage except a crack on the head — we proceeded 

 to investigate the affair. It turned out to be quite 

 simple. The victim, a man whom we had only engaged 

 two or three days before, had tried to warm himself 

 at one of the fires. His assailant, a carrier who had 

 been with us some time, had objected, and had enforced 

 his objection by laying the other out with a club. The 

 general melee which we had interrupted had been a 

 kind of natural after-effect, everyone hitting out at 

 everyone else. 



112 



